Updated 4:44 pm, Friday, November 8, 2013

Photo: Contributed Photo

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Franklin Street Works Creative Director Terri C Smith gives a tour of the exhibition, "Your Content Will Return Shortly," to new media students at SUNY Purchase College. The Stamford gallery marks its 2nd anniversary with a fundraiser party on Saturday, Nov. 23 and a Pop-Up Shop through Dec. 2. less

Franklin Street Works Creative Director Terri C Smith gives a tour of the exhibition, "Your Content Will Return Shortly," to new media students at SUNY Purchase College. The Stamford gallery marks its 2nd ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo

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Seth Kelly and Karsten Krejcarek give a performative talk as part of the exhibition "These Transitional Spaces" at Franklin Street Works. The Stamford gallery marks its 2nd anniversary with a fundraiser party on Saturday, Nov. 23 and a Pop-Up Shop through Dec. 2. less

Seth Kelly and Karsten Krejcarek give a performative talk as part of the exhibition "These Transitional Spaces" at Franklin Street Works. The Stamford gallery marks its 2nd anniversary with a fundraiser party ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo

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Musicians UseOtherDoor of Stamford and Arvid Tomayko-Peters of Providence, R.I. perform at Franklin Street Works' Experimental Music Night. The Stamford gallery marks its 2nd anniversary with a fundraiser party on Saturday, Nov. 23 and a Pop-Up Shop through Dec. 2. less

Musicians UseOtherDoor of Stamford and Arvid Tomayko-Peters of Providence, R.I. perform at Franklin Street Works' Experimental Music Night. The Stamford gallery marks its 2nd anniversary with a fundraiser ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo

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Aki Sasamoto performs "It's Hard to Relate to You (Indoor Version)" at the reception for the exhibition "Kool-Aid Wino" at Franklin Street Works. The Stamford gallery marks its 2nd anniversary with a fundraiser party on Saturday, Nov. 23 and a Pop-Up Shop through Dec. 2. less

Aki Sasamoto performs "It's Hard to Relate to You (Indoor Version)" at the reception for the exhibition "Kool-Aid Wino" at Franklin Street Works. The Stamford gallery marks its 2nd anniversary with a fundraiser ... more

Photo: Contributed Photo

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Shotglasses by Emily Roz and Carmelle Safdie are on sale in Franklin Street Works' Pop-Up Shop through Dec. 2. The Stamford gallery is celebrating its 2nd anniversary this month. Photo: Contributed Photo

Shotglasses by Emily Roz and Carmelle Safdie are on sale in Franklin Street Works' Pop-Up Shop through Dec. 2. The Stamford gallery is celebrating its 2nd anniversary this month. Photo: Contributed Photo

Photo: Contributed Photo

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Prints by Jeff Ostergren are on sale in Franklin Street Works' Pop-Up Shop through Dec. 2. The Stamford gallery is celebrating its 2nd anniversary this month.

Prints by Jeff Ostergren are on sale in Franklin Street Works' Pop-Up Shop through Dec. 2. The Stamford gallery is celebrating its 2nd anniversary this month.

Photo: Contributed Photo

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T-shirts by Rachel Higgins are on sale in Franklin Street Works' Pop-Up Shop through Dec. 2. The Stamford gallery is celebrating its 2nd anniversary this month.

T-shirts by Rachel Higgins are on sale in Franklin Street Works' Pop-Up Shop through Dec. 2. The Stamford gallery is celebrating its 2nd anniversary this month.

"There was a lot of artistic action, a lot of people pushing the envelope, a lot of people hanging out in coffeehouses," Emmett said of the New York City neighborhood where she was raised during the 1950s and '60s. "I wanted to see that kind of community in Stamford."

To that end, she opened Franklin Street Works, a nonprofit contemporary art space and cafe located below her law office at 41 Franklin St., in 2011.

Since then, Emmett has seen her vision spring to life -- Franklin Street Works has grown into a hub for boundary-pushing experimentation and collaboration, a little corner of the region that conjures the alternative art spaces that flourished in New York City in the 1960s and 70s.

"We are a laboratory. We want to experiment. We are willing and able to fall on our faces," Terri Smith, the creative director of Franklin Street Works, said. "It is important for us to create a space where people are given the room to stretch themselves, whether they be an audience member, or an artist or a musician."

To mark its two-year anniversary, Franklin Street Works will host a fundraiser party on Saturday, Nov. 23. The event coincides with their Art Shop, featuring hundreds of new and existing multiples made by artists who have worked with Franklin Street Works. Sale prices range from $3 to $400.

A soul mate of alternative art spaces such as Gordon Matta-Clark's Food and Trudie Grace and Irving Sandler's Artists Space, Franklin Street Works is far from your typical fine art gallery. The space regularly features new media works, installation art, performances, film programming, collaborative projects, community gatherings and more.

Much of the work on view calls for "a mix of openness and critical thinking," pushing visitors beyond "passive viewing," Smith said.

Past exhibitions have featured artists who use VHS tapes as a means of artistic expression, employ everyday objects to explore different spatiotemporal realms and create agricultural projects that blur the line between art and activism. "Kool-Aid Wino," Franklin Street Works' most recent exhibition, focused on mistakes and missteps in contemporary art practices.

Patricia Rattray, a Realtor and community advocate in Stamford, didn't know what to make of Franklin Street Works when she first stumbled upon the two-story venue last year. But after attending a number of exhibition openings, and taking the time to engage with the artwork and interact with artists, visiting the space became a much more captivating experience.

"I definitely got it," said Rattray, who went on to become a member of Franklin Street Works. "The idea of creating art that helps you to think about your life and society, I really appreciate that. You're there to experience something new."

Those experiences not only come in the form of installations, but through interactive programs.

In December, Bibbe Hansen (an artist who also happens to be the mother of musician Beck) came to the site to perform an improvisational piece inside the online virtual realm of Second Life. In July, volunteers led by artist David Horvitz planted several dozen honey locust saplings grown from seeds in New York City's Zuccotti Park -- the central locale of the 2011 Occupy Wall Street protests -- in Stamford.

"The hope is that by ... continuing programming that elucidates our exhibitions in a casual, social setting, we'll encourage more people in the region to engage with Franklin Street Works," Smith said.

Thus far, Franklin Street Works has attracted some outside financial support -- most notably a $40,000 grant from the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts. But as a nonprofit organization, additional funds are always needed (to donate, contact the gallery directly).

That continues to be a challenge for the 2-year-old art space. Still, looking at all that's been accomplished, Franklin Street Works has much to be excited about. Not only has it exposed the public to new forms of contemporary art -- they have created a place that, much like the coffeehouses in '60s-era Greenwich Village, lets artists and art lovers gather, perform and push boundaries.

"We're not alone in presenting contemporary art," Emmett said, "But we have a distinct personality. What we're doing is unique."